The trip to London went smoother than Ferdinand had expected; not only did he develop a gold mine, but he also deepened his relationship with the British Royal Family, which would be of great help in the future.
Edward, who was facing a financial crisis, was much more interested in the gold mine than Ferdinand, and the two set up a mining company as quickly as possible.
An excited Edward even planned to go to Australia in person, which frightened Ferdinand into quickly stopping him.
In the 19th century, Australia was not a good place to go; it was a backwater, practically a wilderness, and Ferdinand cherished his own life very much.
It wasn’t until June of the following year, when the first batch of gold from Australia arrived in London, that Ferdinand finally set his mind at ease.
The first batch of gold was not large, only a mere eight hundred kilograms, worth just over a hundred thousand pounds, but Ferdinand and Edward were very excited.
A pile of gold was far more shocking than a check.
Even Victoria attended their victory banquet; in the 19th century, under the gold standard, the importance of gold far exceeded that of later generations.
With the mining company on the right track, Ferdinand set off to return to Vienna, and barring any accidents, it would create hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue for him every year.
Unlike when he first arrived, on the return journey, after landing in France, Ferdinand switched to traveling by land, sightseeing and visiting historical sites along the way.
In France, he left his footprints at the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame de Paris, and the Panthéon in Paris.
In Germany, Ferdinand’s figure appeared at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Neuschwanstein Castle, Lake Constance, Cologne Cathedral, and the source of the Danube River.
It was not until the end of 1885 that Ferdinand returned to Vienna.
Along the way, Ferdinand benefited greatly, gaining insight into the three most powerful countries of the time—Britain, France, and Germany—and gaining a clear understanding of everything from their human geography to their industrial development.
Although these three countries were currently booming, Ferdinand clearly sensed that France was falling behind, with a large amount of capital gathering in the financial markets and investment in industry having greatly decreased.
Germany was the exact opposite; perhaps influenced by the traditions of the German region, Capitalists there had little interest in virtual finance and were dedicated to industry, with much greater investment in industrial efforts.
After touring the Austria-Hungary, Ferdinand discovered that this decaying empire was still operating quite healthily, with no signs of collapse visible at all.
Its economy was developing rapidly, and although it could not compare to Britain, France, or Germany, its development potential was not much worse.
Domestic conflicts were now suppressed to their lowest point, and Hungary, which loved to stir up trouble the most, was now only struggling for power and had no tendency toward independence yet. This chapter is updated first at novelping(.)com.
Looking at the current British Empire, no one would have thought that in just a few decades, it would decline into a second-rate country.
Of course, this had nothing to do with Ferdinand; he was now concerned about the coup in Bulgaria.
The Tsarist Government was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Alexander of Battenberg’s anti-Russian tendencies, and a coup was brewing.
Battenberg had always been an extremely reactionary person who was hostile toward Russia; initially, in order not to arouse Russia’s dissatisfaction, he had cleverly hidden his hostile emotions toward it.
However, he never concealed his reactionary ideology; from the very beginning, he openly stood on the side of the Conservative Party, and even though he knew the Liberal Party held a dominant position in the National Assembly, he still organized a Conservative Party Government.
Once the Conservative Party came to power, it openly trampled on the constitution from the very beginning, and the Liberal Party used public opinion to organize demonstrations, leading to a fierce struggle between the two parties.
Then, for the next few years, it was a fierce struggle between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party, and with the Russians getting involved, the country was in a complete mess.
In 1886, the political crisis intensified, and the Russians planned to depose Battenberg and replace him with a person from the Pro-Russian faction.
However, Western Great Powers like Britain and Austria-Hungary chose to support Battenberg in order to weaken Russia’s influence in the Balkans.
The nascent bourgeoisie in Bulgaria was also divided into the Pro-Russian faction and the anti-Russian faction, with both sides unable to reach an agreement.
The Pro-Russian faction sought help from Russia, and on August 21, 1886, a group of Bulgarian officers supported by Russia deposed Prince Alexander.
This move aroused dissatisfaction throughout Bulgaria, and some military and political figures launched a counter-coup, urging Prince Alexander to return to his position.
The Tsarist Government opposed this and threatened to occupy Bulgaria.
On September 7, Prince Alexander was forced to abdicate and leave.
A sharp political crisis broke out, and the Great Powers began another fierce struggle over the candidate for the Prince of Bulgaria.
Russia’s position was that as long as the political power was in the hands of the Pro-Russian faction, the National Assembly would be convened to elect the Prince of Bulgaria.
Stambolov, disregarding the Russians’ opposition, forcibly convened the National Assembly and elected Prince Valdemar of Denmark as the Prince of Bulgaria, but under pressure from the Tsar, Prince Valdemar refused to take the throne.
The conflict continued to intensify, and Russia once severed diplomatic relations with Bulgaria.
Because the two domestic factions could not reach a compromise, the Pro-Russian faction launched an uprising in February 1887, but it was quickly suppressed, and its leaders were sentenced to death.
To end this crisis, the Bulgarian Government, with the support of Austria-Hungary, convened the National Assembly without Russia’s consent and elected the Prince of Bulgaria.
In order to gain more support, Austria-Hungary nominated Ferdinand, and on June 25, 1887, the Bulgarian National Assembly elected Ferdinand as the successor Prince.
The Tsarist Government protested against this and demanded that the Turkey Government refuse Ferdinand’s inauguration in accordance with the Treaty of Berlin.
However, under pressure from the Western Great Powers, Turkey rejected Russia’s demand and supported Ferdinand’s succession.
At the moment, the coup in Bulgaria was still brewing, and Ferdinand did not intervene, as he was afraid of causing a butterfly effect.
After all, historically, in order to find a Prince, Bulgaria had traveled all over Europe, and there were a great many candidates.
Although they eventually chose him, it was merely to obtain the support of the Western Great Powers, which did not mean there was no one else who could replace him.
While Ferdinand waited anxiously, he also strengthened the development of intelligence work.
Looking back at history, his early days in Bulgaria were not very easy, as power was firmly in the hands of the Liberal Party.
Time passed day by day, and in the summer of 1886, the coup began as scheduled; Battenberg was forced to abdicate and was then expelled from the country.
The subsequent fierce struggle surrounding Bulgaria left Ferdinand dumbfounded; Russia, which had originally held the advantage, gradually lost its edge through a series of mistaken actions.
In 1887, the Bulgarian crisis intensified, and after obtaining Ferdinand’s consent, in February, Stambolov forcibly convened the National Assembly and officially elected Ferdinand as the Prince of Bulgaria.